The present invention relates generally to mobility aids and particularly to such a device for use in aiding a person to climb stairs and to enter or depart from a motor vehicle.
Lower leg and foot injuries or disease may require the affected foot or lower leg of a person to be protected from bearing a person's weight, although the person can still stand on the unaffected leg.
While movement is possible in a wheelchair or using devices such as the scooter disclosed in Hoepner et al. U.S. Pat. No. 7,780,180, including wheels, a handle, and a leg supporting upper surface to support an injured lower leg for a person traveling on even, level surfaces, such devices are not helpful in climbing stairs while avoiding application of weight to an injured leg or foot.
Kline U.S. Pat. No. 8,302,974 discloses a device similar to a chair, with adjustable legs which permit the device to be supported with one pair of legs on a stair step and the other pair of legs on a higher stair step. The Kline device, however, is quite wide, and appears susceptible to tipping over toward an upper stair step.
What is desired, then, is a device for aiding a person to climb stairs that is of an easily manageable size and which provides for stability in an upstairs or downstairs direction.